The Illustrated Red Baron

the Life and Times of Baron Manfred von Richthofen

Many of us owe our interest in WWl aviation to the 'Bloody Red Baron', it's the kind of stuff that inspires the young and inquisitive mind. Whether or not the plethora of books since published, and many by this same author, sustain interest or help recruit new afficionados I am uncertain. One thing that is certain is that Manfred still sustains interest in book publishers boardrooms, and not unlike the Mel Brooks' joke all you need do is write a book about a golf playing, cat loving Red Baron and it's early retirement.

So what has Peter Kilduff dug up for us this time? Well, there is no text, well not what you could call text, it's all captions. The title does explain it as an illustrated history, and the captions are long and informative. Something that tends to confuse the would be browser is that the captions run on so that the piece one is reading may not correspond to the photo or photos on the page. A brief flick through the book will reveal many previously published pictures, and anyone reading this journal who expects otherwise needs to give it back to its owner. Of course there are only so many photos of relevant events in existence, and perhaps new ones will be discovered in time, but for now this book must be seen as a general look at the man's life. That the book is well written goes without saying, and that the captions are informative and accurate within accepted boundaries of conjecture is also true, but what this offers the long term WWl reader I am not so sure. The photographs have none of the modern computer enhancement that could have made it a talking point, indeed the actual or 'normal' reproduction generally is not as good as I expected on receiving it, and this must be seen as the volume's real missed opportunity.

One never wishes to be seen as cynical but I personally feel that this is a book for those not acquainted with the subject. Perhaps you know of a young person that could do with a nudge in the right direction, if so send them a copy and you may start off a lifelong interest.